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Global stocks set for correction by year-end as rally fizzles: Poll

elean
4 minutes

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - The blistering rally in global stocks is nearly over, any further gains will be limited and a correction is likely by the end of the year, a Reuters poll of analysts found. Global stocks have recovered by more than 90 per cent from the troughs hit during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the MSCI world equity index that tracks shares in 50 countries. But the rally is struggling to maintain its pace. The spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus and the US Federal Reserve's pending plans to taper its asset purchases are likely to leave equity markets exposed to turbulence over the coming months. "The positive earnings season catalyst now behind us means some of the macro negativity is spilling over into equities," Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays in London, said. "Medium-term though, resilient economic/earnings growth and excess liquidity are likely to remain the dominant market drivers, in our opinion. This should continue to feed the 'buy the dip' mentality, although investors may stay on a wait and see mode for now, given the lack of meaningful correction in the past 12 months." Last week, world stocks suffe...

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China’s regulatory crackdowns already hurting the economy

elean
5 minutes

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - China's campaign to clamp down on industries ranging from steel to education to property has roiled financial markets and curbed the outlook for growth in the world's second-largest economy. Beijing has signaled there's more regulation for businesses in years to come, but economists say authorities will need to carefully manage the pace and intensity of that against an economy weakening faster than expected this year following fresh virus outbreaks in the country. China will strive to complete major economic and social development targets set for this year, the People’s Daily said on its front page on Thursday (Aug 26), citing President Xi Jinping. Mr Xi made the comments during his visit to the northern province of Hebei. While it's difficult to quantify the direct effect of the regulatory restrictions on growth, here's a look at how some of them are playing out in the economy already: Decarbonisation push China has set an ambitious goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2060, a challenging target given it hasn't even reached its emissions peak. In its first road map to achieving net zero emissions, Beijing pledged to increase the use of renewable energy and deve...

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Tan Chong returns to profit in first half, but expects car business to stay challenging

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Auto dealer Tan Chong International reported earnings of HK$78.6 million (S$13.7 million) for the first half of 2021, swinging back into profit following a HK$46.1 million net loss in the same period last year. The company's revenue for the period was nearly HK$6.2 billion, an increase of 6 per cent from that in the first half of 2020, according to its interim results for the six months ended June 30. Its directors have declared an interim dividend of 1.5 Hong Kong cent per share for H1 2021. Tan Chong said the automotive business of the group remains challenging, with the business environment remaining fluid amid new strains of Covid-19 as well as geopolitical factors. It added that measures to curb Covid-19, including lockdowns, had caused "almost total suspension" of the group's operations in several of the 11 Asia-Pacific markets in which it operates. However, its non-automotive segment was "satisfactory", helped by the disposal gain in one of the group's properties in Singapore that it no longer requires, the mainboard-listed company said. Net asset per share as of June 30 was HK$5.95, a decrease from the HK$6.05 recorded end-December 2020. In ...

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Tech industry will still grow post-pandemic

elean
6 minutes

(NYTIMES) - In April last year, Mr Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive and the world's richest man, announced he was focusing on people rather than profits. Amazon would spend about US$4 billion (S$5.5 billion) in the next few months "providing for customers and protecting employees", he said, wiping out the profit the retailer would have made without the coronavirus. It was a typically bold Amazon announcement, a shrewd public relations move to sacrifice financial gain at a moment of misery and fear. He said this was "the hardest time we've ever faced" and suggested the new approach would extend indefinitely. "If you're a share owner in Amazon," he advised, "you may want to take a seat." At the end of July last year, Amazon announced quarterly results. Rather than earning zero, as he had predicted, it notched an operating profit of US$5.8 billion - a record for the company. The months since have established new records. Amazon's margins, which measure the profit on every dollar of sales, are the highest in the history of the company, which is based in Seattle. Even as most other industries are pummelled by the pandemic, the tech industry has flourished. The combined stock market ...

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US Fed officials expect to pull back on stimulus in 2021

elean
3 minutes

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US central bankers expect to start pulling back on stimulus measures this year, if the economic recovery continues, according to the minutes of the July policy meeting released on Wednesday (Aug 18). While the discussions showed some division among Federal Reserve officials on the prospects for inflation and employment, with few exceptions they see a slowdown in the massive asset purchases in coming months. But they also recognised the challenges facing policymakers, as well as the uncertainty about the outlook amid rising Covid-19 infections driven by the Delta variant, as well as the global supply chain bottlenecks hurting businesses. The Fed slashed interest rates to zero at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and began buying huge amounts of bonds to provide liquidity to the world's largest economy and support the recovery. As businesses shutdown nationwide, the central bank vowed to keep the stimulus measures in place until it had achieved "substantial progress" towards its maximum employment goal and inflation was on track to hold above the two-percent target for some time. "Most participants" at the July 27-28 meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open...

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Personal debt soars among young S’pore adults during pandemic

elean
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Personal debt among young adults here has been rising during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the situation could worsen once interest rates start to rise. Credit Bureau Singapore data showed that while credit card borrowing showed no significant variation, people in their 20s have been taking on increasing amounts of other debt since the second quarter of last year. The data showed that the average personal loans and overdraft balances for those under 30 rose by about 23 per cent in the first quarter of this year over the last three months of last year. The average personal loan and overdraft balances for borrowers from 21 to 29 years old shot up to $49,689 in the first quarter of this year, about 42 per cent higher than the average of $34,941 in the first quarter of last year. Borrowing limits in Singapore were capped in 2015, helping to keep unsecured debt in check. The higher debts of late could have been fuelled by low interest rates, said experts. Associate Professor Yu Yinghui, head of the Master of Finance programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, noted that the Government had capped the annual effective interest rate of unsecured personal loans at 8 p...

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Singapore gets first panda cub, born to Kai Kai and Jia Jia at River Safari

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - The nation’s first panda cub was born on Saturday (Aug 14) at the River Safari at about 7.50am, to parents Kai Kai and Jia Jia. In a statement on Sunday, Wildlife Reserves Singapore called the birth "a joyful boost to the ongoing National Day celebrations this year", adding that the panda cub's gender is yet to be determined and will be announced later. Meanwhile, mother Jia Jia and her cub are in an off-exhibit den to give them time to nurse and bond, it said. The successful birth comes after the giant pandas’ seventh breeding season. They began mating in 2015. Giant pandas are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity, in part due to the narrow window for conception. Females like Jia Jia ovulate only once a year, and her fertility also peaks for just 24 to 36 hours. WRS said 13-year-old Kai Kai and 12-year-old Jia Jia displayed signs of being in heat in April this year. It added that its animal care team was optimistic that the pandas would naturally breed this year, as the pair had shown improvements in their mating techniques the year before. Experts from the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Panda (CCRCGP)advised WRS vets to perform artificial inse...

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Money pours in for anti-hacking firms

elean
3 minutes

(NYTIMES) - As cyber attacks proliferated this year, Mr Sanjay Beri, chief executive of Netskope, received a phone call. Then an e-mail. Then more messages. All were from venture capitalists who wanted to invest in his company. Given the ransomware attacks and nation-state hacks that were making headlines, they told him, companies that made security products had a bigger market and mission than before. "We weren't looking for capital," said Mr Beri, who founded the cloud security start-up in 2012, but the cyber attacks "definitely increased their interest." After bids from seven investors, Netskope raised US$300 million (S$407 million) recently at a valuation of US$7.5 billion, up from a US$2.8 billion valuation last year. Recent global cyber attacks have taken down operations at oil pipelines, hospitals and grocery chains, and potentially compromised some intelligence agencies. But they have been a bonanza for one group: cyber-security start-ups. Investors have poured more than US$12.2 billion into start-ups that sell products and services such as cloud security, identify verification and privacy protection so far this year. That exceeds the US$10.4 billion that cyber-security com...

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National Care Hotline for psychological first-aid received more than 45,000 calls since April last year

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - The National Care Hotline, which provides psychological first aid and emotional support to those who dial in, has fielded more than 45,000 calls since it was set up in April last year. Revealing these numbers at a conference on Saturday morning (Aug 14), Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary added that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a stress-test of the country's mental health and healthcare systems. "This pandemic will continue to pose a challenge to the mental well-being and health of the population, since the impact is likely to last for some years to come," he said. Dr Janil was speaking at the Asia-Pacific Mindfulness Conference, which featured a series of local and international experts sharing their views on topics such as mindfulness and mental well-being. The virtual conference, held over nine days between Saturday and Aug 29, was organised by mental wellness charity Brahm Centre. More than 6,000 people from 59 countries signed up for the event. One topic that came up frequently in discussions on Saturday was the pandemic's impact on Singaporeans' mental well-being. For instance, a series of polls by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS)...

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CapitaLand first-half profit swells to $922.2m from $96.6m on portfolio gains, market recovery

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - CapitaLand reported net profit of $922.2 million for the first half ended June 30 - nearly 10 times the profit of $96.6 million for the same period last year. In a bourse filing on Friday morning (Aug 13), the property giant attributed this to the nascent economic recovery of its two core markets: Singapore and China. Operating profit from business operations increased 66 per cent to $433.6 million, from $261.2 million previously. The rest of the boost to profit was credited to portfolio gains of $489 million, which the group said included gains from divestments and realised revaluation gains. Earnings per share rose to 17.7 cents for the half year, up from 1.9 cents in the year-ago period. Revenue for the for the first half year rose 34.7 per cent year on year to $2.73 billion, driven mainly by CapitaLand's development projects as more units were handed over in China and higher progressive revenue recognition from One Pearl Bank in Singapore. Singapore and China together accounted for 77 per cent of total revenue for the half-year period. As the Covid-19 situation in these two countries gradually stabilised, lower rental rebates were also granted t...

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US home prices soar 23% in Q2, the fastest rate on record

elean
2 minutes

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - US home prices rose the most on record in the second quarter as buyers battled for a scarcity of listings. The median price of an existing single-family home jumped 23 per cent from a year earlier to an all-time high of US$357,900 (S$485,900), the National Association of Realtors said in a report on Thursday (Aug 12). About 94 per cent of 183 metropolitan areas measured had double-digit gains, up from 89 per cent in the first quarter. Low mortgage rates have stoked the hot US housing market for more than a year, with a shortage of inventory pushing prices ever higher. Buyers are having a hard time finding properties they can afford: Sales of previously owned homes in the US fell for a fourth straight month in May. "Home price gains and the accompanying housing wealth accumulation have been spectacular over the past year, but are unlikely to be repeated in 2022," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors group, said in the report. "There are signs of more supply reaching the market and some tapering of demand." The price increases have hit particularly hard for renters looking to become homeowners. Among first-time buyers, the monthly mortgage payment f...

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Singtel posts $445 million Q1 profit, reversing year-ago loss

elean
2 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Singtel swung into the black with a net profit of $445 million for the first quarter ended June 30, compared with a net loss of $20 million a year ago on the back of an improved operating and business environment with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. The telco on Thursday (Aug 12) also posted a 7.5 per cent increase in operating revenue to $3.8 billion, from $3.5 billion a year ago. Revenue growth was driven mainly by Singtel's Australian consumer business, where its operating revenue grew by 7.7 per cent to $1.7 billion, from $1.6 billion a year ago due to an 11 per cent appreciation of the Australian dollar. Assuming a constant exchange rate, operating revenue for the Australian consumer business fell 2.6 per cent. Still, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the business segment grew by 12 per cent on improved mobile postpaid average revenue per user, cessation of Covid-19-related customer fee waivers and rebates, as well as lower bad debts provision. Singtel's operating revenue in Singapore also rose 1.3 per cent year on year to $414 million, from $409 million the year before on higher mobile service, fixe...

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Singapore ups trade forecasts again as Q2 non-oil exports surge 10.1%

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Singapore has raised its trade forecasts for the third time this year, on the back of strong second-quarter growth in sectors such as electronics and petrochemicals. Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) could grow by 7 per cent to 8 per cent year on year in 2021, trade agency Enterprise Singapore (ESG) said in a review on Wednesday (Aug 11) - a bump up from the projection of 1 per cent to 3 per cent issued in May. And, with oil prices likely to stay high, total merchandise trade is now tipped to expand by 13 per cent to 14 per cent year on year, up from 5 per cent to 7 per cent in May. Besides a better-than-expected showing in the year to date, ESG also pointed to "higher oil prices and robust global semiconductor demand" as drivers of total trade in 2021. The rosier outlook came as Nodx was higher by 10.1 per cent in the April-to-June period, picking up from the 9.7 per cent rise in the first three months. Exports were lifted by an 8.5 per cent increase in shipments of non-electronics, such as specialised machinery for semiconductors, petrochemicals and primary chemicals. Still, the electronics cluster, which made up nearly one-quarter of Nodx, posted a...

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Singapore raises 2021 growth forecast to 6-7%; recovery ‘largely on track’ despite Delta variant

elean
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Singapore upgraded its economic growth forecast range for 2021 to 6 per cent to 7 per cent, taking into account the better-than-expected performance of its economy in the first half of the year, as well as the latest external and domestic economic developments. The new prediction compares with the previous official growth forecast of 4 per cent to 6 per cent, made first in November last year and maintained in May. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), which announced the forecast, said that while Covid-19 cases continue to be on the rise globally due to the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, vaccination rates have also picked up in key advanced economies such as the United States and the eurozone, which have in turn allowed them to press on with their reopening plans. In contrast, regional economies, which have been slow to vaccinate their populations, have had to reimpose restriction measures to curb a resurgence in infections. This has in turn dampened their growth outlook, MTI said. "On balance, the recovery in external demand for Singapore for the rest of the year remains largely on track," the ministry noted. Enterprise Singapore, meanwhile, hike...

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AMC posts upbeat results as people return to theatres

elean
2 minutes

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Cinema operator AMC Entertainment beat second-quarter revenue estimates on Monday, lifted by the return of movie-goers to its theaters after a year of closures and restrictions, sending its shares up 4 per cent in extended trading. F9: The Fast Saga - the latest instalment of the Fast and Furious series - and Godzilla Vs Kong gave AMC much-needed relief from the blows it has taken from the pandemic over the past year due to theatre closures. "In short, AMC crushed it in Q2," chief executive Adam Aron said on a conference call. Aron added that AMC will have the technology in place to receive payment in Bitcoin by the end of the year as payment for movie tickets and concessions. Nearly all of AMC's theatres reopened during the quarter as more people got vaccinated and pandemic-related curbs were eased. Mr Aron said that US ticket revenue so far in the third quarter was on track to reach 45 per cent of the same quarter in 2019 and was up from 29 per cent for the second quarter. "That trend line is pointing up. We certainly have a way to go but the progress is clear." Ticket sales at the world's largest theatre chain are still far off what it was raking in two yea...

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Regardless of race: One nation, many festivals

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - National Day is a celebration that brings together Singaporeans of every stripe and colour but each community also celebrates its own festivals throughout the year and adds colour to the diverse fabric of the nation. Some festivals, like Hari Raya Puasa and Chinese New Year, are public holidays and have become popular celebrations that all communities take part in - visiting friends and relatives from different ethnic and religious groups. Other festivals like Pongal - celebrated mainly by Hindus with roots in South India - and the Prophet Muhammad's birthday are not public holidays but are marked by the faithful and the traditions are kept alive and passed on to the next generation. These festivals offer a sense of connection and community. For instance, secondary school teacher Jihad Suhaimi, 24, said celebrating the Prophet's birthday provides an opportunity for Muslims to come together and focus on the life and values of Prophet Muhammad. He said: "Some mosques in Singapore have gatherings where we recite poems of praise in Arabic and end off with a feast." The Prophet Muhammad's birthday - also known as Maulidur Rasul or Mawlid - is usually celebrated in the third ...

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LV handbags still the rage in pandemic

elean
4 minutes

(BLOOMBERG) - The demand for popular designer handbags is very strong even though people are staying home more these days. Sales of Louis Vuitton handbags and the easing of coronavirus lockdowns across the world helped revenue soar at fashion house LVMH. In a stellar quarter for the owner of some of the world's best-known luxury brands, like-for-like sales at the group rose 84 per cent in the three months through June, ahead of analysts' expectations. Much of the gain was fuelled by demand for fashion and leather goods, particularly at Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Loewe and Celine, the company said in a statement. Organic revenue in this division jumped 120 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier and 40 per cent from the same period in 2019. LVMH benefited from an easy comparison with 2020 as many stores remained shut last year due to the pandemic. Demand "remains very strong", chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said. This is the "strongest first-half update ever" for LVMH and will probably prompt earnings upgrades for a company seen as the bellwether of the luxury goods industry, Mr Luca Solca, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note to clie...

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DBS Q2 profit up 37% to $1.7 billion; quarterly dividend raised to 33 cents

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - DBS Group Holdings posted on Thursday (Aug 5) a 37 per cent jump in second-quarter net profit to a quarterly record of $1.7 billion amid higher fee income and lower allowances. Its earnings topped the $1.47 billion average estimate of three analysts polled by Bloomberg. The board has declared a dividend of 33 cents per share for the second quarter, compared to 18 cents a year ago, bringing the first-half dividend to 51 cents per share. This follows the Monetary Authority of Singapore's lifting of restrictions that capped dividend payouts from local banks and finance companies at 60 per cent of the previous year's dividend amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Singapore’s largest lender’s latest earnings dipped 15 per cent from its all-time high of $2.01 billion in net profit in the first quarter. DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said business momentum and asset quality have both been better than expected as the economic recovery from the pandemic takes hold. "While risks remain, our pipeline remains healthy and we expect business momentum to be sustained in the coming quarters," he said. The lender’s net interest income fell 9 per cent year-on-year to $2.09 billion in the second ...

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Woman caught on video not wearing a mask at MBS is expected to plead guilty on Aug 12

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - A woman captured on video not wearing a mask at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort is expected to plead guilty to her charges on Aug 12. Phoon Chiu Yoke, who is now in remand, appeared in court via video-link on Wednesday (Aug 4). She asked the court for her release, without conditions attached. Alleged offenders can be released on bail before they are convicted. Phoon, who is unrepresented, also asked for the return of her passport, stressing that she has a "stellar professional record". The court denied her application on Wednesday given the "egregious nature" of her charges. She continues to be in remand. Phoon currently faces 22 charges for various offences including multiple counts of failing to wear a mask at public places. She first appeared in court last year after she allegedly failed to wear a mask over her nose and mouth "at all times" at Newton hawker centre between 7.20pm and 8pm on May 8 during the circuit breaker period. She left Singapore for Britain soon after that alleged offence. She returned to Singapore on June 28 last year and had to serve a 14-day stay-home notice at MBS until July 12. The court had heard that she allegedly left her hote...

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OCBC Q2 profit up 59% to $1.16 billion; dividend boosted to 25 cents a share

elean
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - OCBC Banks's earnings continued to rebound from last year as it posted on Wednesday (Aug 4) a 59 per cent increase in second-quarter net profit to $1.16 billion on the back of lower allowances. It also declared an interim dividend of 25 cents per share for the first half of the year, up from 15.9 cents a year ago. This represents a payout ratio of 42 per cent against the group's first-half net profit and comes after the Monetary Authority of Singapore last month lifted restrictions that capped dividend payouts from local banks and finance companies at 60 per cent of the previous year's dividend amid the coronavirus pandemic. OCBC's earnings topped the $1.14 billion average estimate of six analysts polled by Bloomberg. Group chief executive Helen Wong said net profit growth was driven by robust banking and insurance performance, while wealth management income grew strongly and private banking assets under management continued to expand. "While net interest margin remained relatively stable amid a low rate environment, fee and investment-related income grew in tandem with renewed consumer and business confidence," she said. Ms Wong added that the bank remains watchful on ...